


Mentorship 2.0

by HeavyShoegaze



Category: Kim Possible (Cartoon)
Genre: Bonding, Episode: s02e20 Go Team Go, Fluff and Humor, Friendship, Gen, Or not, but might not line up with canon, can be read as pre-relationship, not an au, read whatever you want into this, shortly after that episode, somewhere in Season 2
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-05
Updated: 2021-01-05
Packaged: 2021-03-13 23:48:50
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 6,084
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28536897
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HeavyShoegaze/pseuds/HeavyShoegaze
Summary: Kim's eager to make up for the debacle of her first mentorship and get her foot in the door of a real, respectable career. What happens when her new mentor is the infamous international criminal, Shego?
Relationships: Kim Possible & Shego
Comments: 1
Kudos: 8





	1. Last Time on KIM POSSIBLE

Last time on _Kim Possible:_

Kim felt the blue glow course through her veins, starting from her center and shooting to her tingling fingertips as she spun-dug up the rock of Go Mountain to evil Aviarius’s lair.

“Your villainous plot ends _now_ , Aviarius!” Kim declared woozily, still dizzy from the spinning. _Next time, I’m bringing a drill_.

Aviarius’s Nest was a large chamber built in a giant cavern atop Go Mountain, stalactites littering the ceiling and stalagmites growing from the floor. The chamber was lit by a series of large torches casting flickering shadows, and at the far end of chamber sat the Avian Ne’er-do-well himself, perched atop a giant throne shaped like _what else_ , a stone bird of some sort.

The Wego twins in were chained to the wall at the foot of the throne in their matching red uniforms, next to the yellow Ugo, the orange Igo, and the pink Theygo. _Seven brothers. How did Shego deal_ , Kim mused, before figuring that the way that Shego dealt was by… _not_ dealing. The men all hung from shackles at their wrists, staring dejectedly at their feet until they looked up and saw Kim.

“Hey! We’re saved!” Igo cheered. Ugo, Theygo, and the Wego twins joined him in cheering.

Kim shook the dizziness from her head and puffed out her chest. “Why thank you. But it’s nothing, really.”

“He’s talking about me, Pumpkin,” Shego said dryly, flipping up the hole and landing next to Kim. She reached back down and dragged Hego and Mego out despite the purple hero’s protestations. “Them too, I guess. But really just me.”

Aviarius’s taunting clapping echoed off the walls of the cavernous chamber. “Hego and Shego,” he cackled from atop his stone throne. “The members of Team Go whose powers I have _yet_ to collect for my own!” He waved his scepter and small portals opened around the walls of the cavern.

From those portals, legions of robotic hummingbirds sped into the chamber, the light glinting off their sharp steel beaks.

The swarm of robo-hummingbirds shot at the heroes, and Kim backflipped away from their pointed metal beaks. She backed up to a giant stalagmite before realizing _duh. Super-strength!_ Kim summoned the blue glow into her hands and felt the increased strength sparking in her muscles. She grabbed the stalagmite behind her and broke it off from the floor. Swinging it like a club, Kim smashed the robotic hummingbirds as they flew at her, pulverizing several at once with each strong swing.

With her super-strength, Kim smashed the bonds holding the Go Bros against the wall. “Thanks for the save,” Igo said, flicking back his hair and flashing her a dazzling grin. Kim couldn’t help but blush and bat her eyes at the handsome hero.

“Enough!” Aviarius shrieked, stomping his feet. “No more Team Go!” He brandished his scepter and the jewel atop glowed in multiple colors, shining bright red, then purple, then orange.

Duplicate Aviariuses emerged from him like shadows, each grinning maniacally. They ran to the group of heroes and assailed them from all sides, even from above.

“And you, Kim Possible,” the main Aviarius declared, “you will face my greatest creation!”

Kim looked over her shoulder to see a door maybe twenty-five feet tall open, smoke billowing from the other side. The ground rumbled under her feet as _something_ stomped up a storm. The smoke cleared, and from the darkness emerged….

“Wow! That’s gotta be the second biggest robot flamingo we’ve ever fought, KP!” Ron called.

Kim ducked under the Flamigobot’s beak as it lunged at her, avoiding anatomically incorrect metal teeth that tried to tear her apart. “What about the one in Maui?” she asked, jumping up and grabbing the flamingo’s neck to try and wrestle it to the ground before it could tear her in half or stomp her into dust.

Ron looked up from where he was tangled with two Aviarius duplicates. “Eh, the Maui one was taller, but this one seems girthier. Whatever he’s feeding it, it’s wor- _hey!_ ”

Kim had to keep from rolling her eyes as Hego and Ron got slapped around by a pair of Aviarius duplicates, and Shego slapped her forehead with her gloved hand. “I told you. These idiots are _beyond_ useless.”

“Maybe you have a point,” Kim muttered, clinging onto the neck of the robot flamingo for dear life as it rampaged around. She tried to steer the mechanical beast away from the flailing members of Team Go, its feet narrowly missing the Wego twins. “But _we’re_ not!”

Gritting her teeth, Kim summoned her newfound super-strength and dragged the robo-flamingo down to the ground, wrestling the screaming, raging beast into submission. Pinning the beast to the stony ground by its neck, she locked eyes with Shego from across the chamber

“Nice work, Pumpkin,” Shego shouted, her hands powering with green plasma. She flipped over one of the Aviarius duplicates and tripped another one that was running at super-speed, sending him sprawling into an invisible third one, forcing him to flicker into visibility. When she reached the flamingo, she charged her plasma energy into her hand and clawed through its metal chassis, frying its internal circuitry until it stopped moving. “Now for Aviarius,” Shego declared, turning to face the villain. “We’re too powerful for you!”

“And I’m _four_ powerful! Do your worst, heroes!” Aviarius brandished his staff, and the jewel atop it glowed again with red energy. More Aviarius duplicates spawned and charged the pair of heroines. _Shego, a heroine? Man, this day is weird!_

Kim held down two super-fast Aviariuses, stopping them in their tracks with her super strength, but an invisible third snuck up on her and grabbed her around the neck. “Argh, they’re too powerful,” Kim ground out, tossing the duplicates aside. “Shego! What do we do?”

The green woman thought for a moment. “We need to get that scepter away from him. Think you can draw his attention, Pumpkin?”

“Ron usually handles the distractions, but how hard could it be?”

Kim backflipped over a charging Aviarius duplicate, but a white beam of electric light blasted from the crystal on top of Aviarius’s staff and struck Kim straight in the chest, draining the blue meteoric power from her body like a vampire sucking her dry of blood. She watched the blue glow leave her body and flow into the crystal, charging it with a bright blue color. The drain felt like someone had sucked the life-force itself from her body, and Kim slumped to the ground in exhaustion. _Wow. Being the distraction is harder than I thought_.

“Ahahaha!” Aviarius cackled, waving around his staff and trailing blue sparks from his newfound power. “What do you have to say to _that_ , Possible?”

“I’d say you fell for the oldest trick in the book,” Shego laughed, landing behind the gloating avian villain and reaching over his shoulder to grab the powered crystal gem. Her hand was powered with green plasma energy, and her razor-sharp nails pierced the gem, pulling it free from Aviarius’s staff.

The Go brothers cheered and chanted their victorious sister’s name as the Aviarius duplicates vanished and the avian villain collapsed to the ground. “Well done, Shego! Give us our powers back so we may celebrate our victory!”

Shego tossed the magic crystal up and down in her hand. “I could do that,” she mused. Her smile turned wicked. “Or… I could do _this!_ ” She charged the green plasma power in her hands and overloaded the crystal, cracks forming in the surface of the large gemstone as energy of various colors flowed into Shego.

 _Oh no_.

“Now all the powers of Team Go are _mine_!” Shego crowed, throwing back her head and laughing villainously. The gemstone fell to the ground and shattered, the pieces empty of their previous luster and smoking. “You idiots fell for the _second_ oldest trick in the book!”

“But Shego,” Hego whispered, heartbroken and utterly betrayed. “ _Why?_ ”

“Why?!” Shego barked out an incredulous laugh. “Why do you think?! Why do you think I ditched you losers to work for a guy who wants to take over the world? I’m bad to the bone, baby!”

Kim grit her teeth and got up into her fighting stance. “You’re not keeping those powers, Shego!”

Shego smirked and gestured to her. “Just _try_ and take them, Princess!”

The two of them had danced like this a hundred times before, but this fight was different. Shego was faster and stronger, capable of dodging Kim’s attacks before they started and leaving imprints in the stone walls where her punches landed. _One bad move… and Shego’ll smash my head like a pumpkin!_

Kim blocked a couple of punches and countered, but Shego activated her yellow-glow super-speed and dodged Kim’s kick. “This might be too much for you to handle, Kimmie!” Shego sneered, as a red power surrounded her. She split off into four different duplicate Shegos, and they surrounded Kim, running at super-speed and leaving orange speed-trails.

 _Uh oh_ , Kim thought, trying to block supersonic kicks and punches coming at her from every direction. Her efforts were futile against four super-fast, super-strong opponents, and the blows found her way past her defenses, knocking her around with all the dismissiveness of a cat batting around at toy. _Ow ow ow ow_ ….

With a shout, Ron ran into the fray to help. He was without much success, as Shego dashed in front of him and hoisted him up with her newfound super-strength. Laughing, she tossed the boy across the room with a single hand. “This is great!” Shego said happily. “Is this how you always lived, Hego? I could get used to this!”

“You’re not gonna get the chance,” Kim snarled, rushing at Shego. An invisible duplicate tackled Kim from her blind spot, holding her tightly while she squirmed helplessly.

Kim glanced over to Team Go for help, but they just looked at each other helplessly. _Now’s **not** the time to be useless_, she thought. As if in response, Hego charged and futilely engaged his sister. He punched and kicked with all his now-regular might, but Shego yawned and batted him aside with a single finger.

“What do we do?” the Wego twins asked together. “How do we stop her?”

“Shego’s unstoppable!” Mego complained. “With my shrinking powers, she’s unbeatable!”

“Hey,” Igo complained, the orange hero crossing his arms. “Super-speed is a pretty good power!”

“And flight too!” Ugo added.

Mego was unconvinced. “your powers were _okay_ , but everyone knows _I_ was most in-tune with the meteor’s energy”

Shego doubled over with laughter, flinging Hego over her shoulder. “ _You_?! Mego, you didn’t even know _how_ to use your powers?”

“What do you mean?” Mego frowned. “You get smaller and then you grow back to normal size. What’s to know?”

“This!” Shego grinned, purple energy surrounding her, and grew bigger and bigger until she was four or five times her usual size. She cackled loudly, her booming voice echoing around the chamber. Taller than a giraffe, she held Kim up in a giant fist high up in the air.

“You can do that?!” Mego exclaimed from below.

Theygo shrugged. “Honestly, we thought you knew.”

“Yeah, we all wondered why you didn’t. It would’ve been helpful,” one of the Wego twins added.

“Oh yeah? Well, I didn’t!”

 _So not the time!_ Kim activated a wrist laser, searing Shego’s palm until she let out a pained yelp and opened her burned hand. As she fell to the ground, Kim pulled her grappling gun and fired into the rocky cavern ceiling above Shego. Swinging around the giant Shego, Kim landed on her forearm and activated a flash function on her watch, pointing the watch face right in Shego’s eyes.

“Argh!” Shego shouted, temporarily blinded by the bright flash of light. While Shego was distracted, Kim dropped to the ground, rolling to break her fall, and shot her back-up grappling hook between Shego’s feet, tripping the giant woman.

Shego tumbled to the ground with a earthquaking thud, the impact jarring her and shrinking her back to normal size.

“Had enough?” Kim asked, arms crossed as she stood over her fallen foe. “Ready to give back those stolen powers?”

Shego smirked. “Not _even_ close, Princess.” Like an orange bolt of lightning, she sprung to her feet and grabbed Kim by the shirt and pulled her high up into the air with Ugo’s yellow powers of flight. “End of the line!” With Hego’s super strength, Shego’s grip was far too tight for Kim to break free, and her other hand glowed bright green with her plasma energy her razor-sharp fingernails so close to Kim’s face that the heat radiating from them was scalding.

“Don’t do it, Shego!” Hego’s heroic voice called out. The burly blue hero ran over to them and reached up for Shego. “Shego, you’re a hero! Not a villain!”

Shego sneered down at her brother. “I’m not a hero.”

“Yes you are,” Hego pleaded earnestly. “But more than that… you’re family.”

 _Family_. In spite herself, Shego couldn’t pretend as if she was unaffected by Hego’s emotional appeal. Her shoulders sagged in resignation and she opened her hand to let Kim go. To Kim’s utter disbelief, Shego turned to give Hego and the rest of her brothers a soft smile. “Family?” she asked quietly. “Even after all I’ve done?”

Hego nodded with a blinding grin. “Family,” he affirmed, taking Shego’s hands in his own. “We’re family forever.”

 _Wow… I don’t believe it_ , Kim thought… like a rube.

With a wicked grin, Shego flipped Hego over her shoulder, throwing him painfully against the stone wall. “You guys are _suckers_ forever. I’ll give you that!” she laughed, charging with blue and yellow energy before flying through the stone wall of the cavern and into the evening air.

With stunned, heavy hearts, Kim, Ron, and Team Go watched her disappear over the horizon with all of the Go powers. The seven Go men couldn’t help but stand there powerlessly, their hopes for heroism dashed in an instant. _Never mind. I totally believe it,_ Kim thought, not wanting to break the awkward, defeated silence that hung over all of them.

“Man, what a bummer,” Ron said at last, shoving his hands in his pockets as he watched her fly off into the distance. “Right, Rufus?” Rufus stuck his head out of the pocket of Ron’s cargo pants and chattered in agreement.

“Even after all this time, Shego couldn’t shake the evil clouds that ensnare her,” Hego mourned.

“So, now what?” Igo turned to ask Theygo.

“I don’t know. Bueno Nacho?”

Hego struck a dramatic, heroic pose. “We must hand Aviarius to the authorities and return to Go Tower to regroup. Evil may still be afoot, and Go City needs Team Go to defend her!”

Mego rolled his eyes. “We lost our powers! You’re delusional, Hego.”

“Don’t you get it, brothers,” Hego insisted. “Even without the meteor’s powers, we _still_ saved Go City!” Seeing that he was beginning to convince his brothers, he continued. “We were so caught up in our individual powers, that we forgot our greatest power! Teamwork!” Ugo, Theygo, and the Wego twins nodded sagely, seeing wisdom in their oldest brother’s words

“Actually, _Kim_ saved the-” Ron tried to say, before Kim cut him off with a hand over his mouth.

“Yeah, you guys _totally_ saved the day! Who needs that magic rainbow meteor? You’re all still heroes!” Kim said enthusiastically. She elbowed Ron harshly and whispered, “I am _not_ staying here and joining Team Go. No chance!”

“Kim Possible is right!” Hego declared. “Powers or no powers, Team Go will never balk in the face of villainy! We shall fight the forces of evil… _together_!”

“Hear hear!” Igo and Theygo cheered, hoisting the squawking Aviarius onto their shoulders. They joined their brothers in chanting “Team Go! Team Go! Team Go!”

“I guess if you all are going to reform Team Go…” Mego said hesitantly.

Ron gave him a harsh shove into his brothers. “Just get in there so we can leave,” he said impatiently.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There's going to be stuff that doesn't line up with the actual episodes. But hopefully it's fun anyways!


	2. Before the Storm

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kim has a (relatively) sane breakfast with her family.

A groggier-than-usual Kim was greeted by a chorus of _‘good morning’_ s as she slumped into her seat at the Possible kitchen table, responding with a yawn instead of a _good morning_ back.

On her left, her father had his nose in the morning paper, absentmindedly dipping his bacon in his coffee in a way that had grossed out Kim for over a decade. Sitting to her right were the Terrible Two themselves, scarfing their breakfast will all the grace and refinement of African Wild Dogs that had tried to eat her last night. The Tweebs eyed her bacon scraps with a dangerous, greedy hunger, and Kim found herself wishing she’d kept her machete as she glared at her brothers. _Don’t even think about it!_

“Long night, sweetie?” her mom asked, pouring her a glass of orange juice. The Possible matriarch already had her white doctors’ robes, and Kim remembered that she had a big surgery scheduled for the morning.

“Last night was _so_ the drama, mom,” Kim moaned, still stuffing her books into her bookbag. “Shego got away with all the Team Go powers, and on our way back from Go City we got a call from Nairobi. That mission took all night! Ugh, I _hate_ double-headers.” Thomas Mwihia, the ultra-wealthy curator of Kenya’s largest museum, had reported the theft of a three-thousand-year-old scepter and headpiece. Neither Kenyan nor international intelligence agencies found much success, but Kim traced the theft to an ancient cult living on a remote island off the coast of Mozambique.

A midnight trek through the savannas of western Kenya, a perilous climb up sheer rocky cliffs soaked in the spray of the turbulent ocean, an infiltration into the maw of the cult’s cavernous lair, a near escape from becoming a human sacrifice, and a fight with a reincarnated lion deity… all in a night’s work for the girl who could do _anything_.

She’d returned to Middleton with just enough time for a shower before breakfast. _A full day of school and cheer practice with no sleep… how bad could it be?_

“I’m not sure I like these overnight missions, Kim,” her father tutted disapprovingly. “How are you supposed to keep up with homework and sleep if you’re flying to Africa on a school night?”

Kim brushed off his concern “Psh. I finished my Lit paper on Mr. Mwihia private jet. And as for sleep…” she waved her mug of coffee. “I’ve got the next best thing.” All she needed was a few cups of coffee to get her through the day and some makeup to hide the bags under her eyes from Bonnie’s inevitably critical gaze.

“Your mission went well, I take it?” her mom asked, shaking her head good-naturedly as if death-defying missions were just part of the everyday teenage experience. _Teens will be teens_ , she mouthed to her husband.

Kim bit into a piece of toast and shrugged. “The sitch at the Crown Museum was no biggie – honestly, did those amateurs think it was my first time as a human sacrifice to summon an ancient god?”

Maybe any other parents would be concerned, but the Possibles had heard it all from their not-so-secret agent daughter. Mr. Possible just gave her a _that’s nice, sweetie,_ from behind his newspaper, and Mrs. Possible asked, “And how was your trip to Go City? Did it _Go_ well?” She laughed at the obvious pun and elbowed her snickering husband, ignoring Kim’s exasperated eye-roll.

“No, it _so_ didn’t. We captured Aviarius, but Shego got away with all seven powers!” Kim buried her face in her arms, muffling her frustrated shouting.

Mrs. Possible pursed her lips in thought. “Shego… Was that the blue one?” she asked, rubbing her chin.

“Mom! Shego’s one of the most dangerous international criminals alive! She and Dr. Drakken have tried to take over the world like a thousand times!” At her mother’s questioning look, she sighed and said, “the green one.”

Mr. Possible peered over his newspaper, adding, “If she’s such a dangerous criminal, why was it a surprise when she betrayed you?”

That was… not the worst point in the world, Kim had to concede. “I don’t know,” Kim murmured, staring into her glass of orange juice as she swirled it around in its glass. “When we were working together, we were… I don’t know. _Friends_ , kinda. I don’t understand how you throw all that away. And I _definitely_ don’t understand how you turn your back on your family.”

Kim reached for her bacon strips only to find her plate completely empty. Startled, she looked around for it and found one of her brothers snickering with her bacon in his greasy hand.

“Never mind, I understand that last part perfectly,” Kim muttered, snatching her bacon strips before the tweeb – she didn’t know or care which one he was – could eat them.

“Either way, I’m sure you’ll bring her to justice like you always do!” Mrs. Possible said cheerily, though Kim knew that with the full power of that rainbow meteor Shego was orders of magnitude more dangerous. She looked at her watch and said, “Oh my, I have to jet now or I’ll be late! Have a wonderful day!”

“Oh yeah, mom. Did you get the thing?” Kim asked her mother before she could get out the door.

Mrs. Possible winced, shaking her head. They’d had this conversation maybe a hundred times, each to no effect. “Kim… sweetie… I really have to go…”

“Mom!” Kim pleaded, whipping out the _Puppy-Dog Pout_. She made sure her eyes were extra teary, and her lower lip wobbled at _just_ the right rate for maximum impact. Her mom grimaced, backing away reluctantly.

“It’s a 12-hour surgery…”

“ _Mom!”_

Mrs. Possible sighed. “Kim! I’m sorry, but the hospital’s not doing any mentorship programs right now.” She sat next to Kim and patted Kim’s shoulder in sympathy. “It’s not the end of the world. And _you_ should know!”

Kim huffed. “Might as well be. All of the secret agents I worked for were posing as janitors, and they classified all their mission documents. Hans, Liwei, Isobel… None of them let the school know that they were undercover. So as far as the school’s concerned… I only got mentored by _janitors!_ ”

Mr. Possible chuckled. “Now Kimmie-cub, there’s nothing wrong with being a janitor.”

“I am _not_ going to be a janitor!”

He patted her head in a way that did nothing to mollify her. “I’m sure you’d be the best janitor in the world. I can see it right now. _Kim Possible: She Can Clean Anything!_ ” Kim didn’t find Mr. Possible’s slogan idea nor his accompanying jazz hands all that funny, and he had to duck behind his newspaper to hide from her frustrated scream.

“Are you _sure_ there’s no place for a mentee at the hospital?” Kim whined to her mom. “Bonnie had to have messed something up, right? Misplaced a scalpel, puked on the operating floor, lost a brain… There’s gotta be _something_ I can fix!”

“Cleaning up puke? Isn’t that work for a _janitor_?”

_“DAD!”_

“James! Stop teasing her,” Mrs. Possible admonished her husband, biting her lip to smother the laughs that threatened to undermine her scolding. “Bonnie… do you mean Bonnie Rockwaller?”

Kim nodded.

“I remember her!” Mrs. Possible said. “What a nice girl. So polite and inquisitive! And I didn’t know you two were such close friends. You should bring her around more!” She gave Kim one last apologetic smile and fled Kim’s anxious storm.

 _So… that’s a no on the brain surgery mentorship._ Kim smacked her head against the table. “Oh _brother_!”

The impact rattled the table and made all the plates and glasses rattle, especially the pitcher right next to the edge. Kim desperately reached for it, but a ten-year-old hand pushed the pitcher away from her hand and over the edge. The pitcher shattered on the tiled kitchen floor in a mess of broken glass and orange juice.

“Whoops! Hey Kim, can you clean that?” one of the tweebs jeered.

“Yeah,” said the other, “you’re the professional, after all.” With a _Hoo-shaw_ , he high-fived his twin brother, and they slid out of their chairs and raced out the door before Kim could get her hands on them.

Kim almost felt steam leave her ears. “ _Daddy!_ ” she whined. Kim stared at her father, imploring him.

“Oh wow, look at the time,” he said, pulling his collar awkwardly. “Clean that up, would you, Kimmie-cub?” he said as he zipped out the door. “Thanks sweetie!”

Deflating, Kim reached for a mop and bucket. _I am **not** a janitor!_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> More than a little too dialogue-heavy, but I hope you enjoyed it! Either way, tell me what you think!


	3. A Second Chance

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kim applies for a second mentorship, but it doesn't go so well

“I still don’t get why you’re doing this, Kim,” Ron remarked, catching her as she left cheer practice at the end of what had been a grueling albeit blessedly uninterrupted session. Kim had half-expected Shego to blow the roof off of the gymnasium and terrorize them with her ill-gotten powers, but even Wade couldn’t report hide nor hair of the green villainess or her diabolical employer. “You got the mentorship credits out of the way. Why do you want to do more?”

Kim gave her longtime best friend the stinkiest stink-eye she could muster. “Seriously, Ron. Why do you think?” She shook her hair out, still a bit damp from the locker-room shower.

“C’mon KP. It’s not like they were _actually_ janitors.”

Kim threw up her hands in disbelief. “Who cares what they were?! They were disguised as janitors. The school thought they were janitors. I had to submit my mentorship report on the _Global Janitorial Association Standards_.”

Ron scratched his head. “Still not seeing what the French would call… _le point_.”

“ _Le point_ , Ron,” Kim huffed, “is that anyone who sees my school transcripts – colleges, employers… - they’re gonna see that while everyone was getting mentored by brain surgeons and rocket scientists, I was getting mentored by a janitor.”

As Kim ranted about her futile efforts to get a better mentorship, Ron spotted Monique and waved her over, shouting something about some GWA event with some barbaric painful-sounding name. _You know what? I’m starting to maybe think there’s a possibility of a chance that no one else cares about my mentorship!_

Monique bounced over to the pair of them, throwing a casual arm around each’s shoulders. “Wazzup, kids? All done with Cooking Club, Ron?”

Ron grinned and pulled a plastic bag full of brownies from his seemingly bottomless pocket. “We made my signature Seven Layer Gourmet Fudge Bars! I still got a few left if you want.”

“At your prices?” Kim laughed, a proud smile on her lips. “I’m not looking to go broke for a brownie.”

“But it would be worth it.” Ron wiggled his eyebrows, and the pair of girls laughed in agreement. Ever since Ron had revealed his savant-tier proficiency with all things culinary, Kim had all but forced him to start the Middleton Cooking Club to share his gifts with the world. He was a brilliant tutor – even Kim found herself becoming almost halfway alright at cooking some simple meals without turning the kitchen into a superfund disaster site.

What Kim never expected was for Ron to find his entrepreneurial spirit in selling his cooking at truly gourmet prices. She figured he was halfway towards paying for college just from how much he was raking in.

“And you, Kim?” Monique asked. “Make it through the day without falling asleep?”

Kim yawned loudly. She was getting more than a little sick of missions sucking all her sleep. “Somehow, I made it.” She held up her now-empty thermos, having filled and drained it of coffee several times throughout the day. “Aced that Pre-Calc test, and I don’t think Bonnie noticed that I was half-asleep. I could do that routine in my sleep.” Kim frowned thoughtfully. “Y’know, I think I _did_.”

Monique shook her head, concern etched on her face. “Kim, you gotta find a way to get some rest on those night missions.”

“Just do what I do, KP. Catch some z’s in the back of class,” Ron suggested.

Kim arched a single auburn eyebrow. “And how many classes did you sleep through?”

Ron made a big show of counting on his fingers. “That’d be… all of them.” He winked mischievously. “Not lunch though. That’s too important.”

“Sounds like cheer practice went well, then,” Monique pointed out. She whipped out her camera and mocked clicking the shutter. “In Photography Club, we were thinking about catching some shots of your routine, if you guys think you’ve got it down.”

Kim pushed the camera away from her face, saying, “so long as I have these bags under my eyes, keep that away from me.”

“Girl, if I get a shot of you in the middle of one of your Kim Possible flippy moves, no one’s gonna care about your baggy eyes.”

Kim smiled, but her heart wasn’t in it. “Yeah, I guess.”

“Let me guess, you’re still bummed about your mentorship?” Monique asked. Kim just nodded glumly, and Monique gave her a sympathetic smile. “No deal with your mom?”

Kim shook her head sadly. “Mom says that the hospital doesn’t have anyone who wants to do a mentorship right now.”

“What if Bonnie did so bad that they never want to mentor anyone in Middleton High ever again?” Ron snickered.

“That’s the weird thing! According to my mom, Bonnie was perfect and everyone loved her!

Monique laughed. “Bonnie? Working hard? _You gotta be kidding me!_ ”

“So _not_ kidding! Bonnie was a model mentee. So _polite and hardworking and inquisitive!_ ” Kim snarked, imitating her mom’s gushing praise that morning. “Between that and her work as cheer captain, I think there might be a possibility we didn’t think of.”

“What’s that?”

“What if Bonnie’s… _smart_?”

“I think that’s one of the signs of the apocalypse,” Ron said sagely. “Plague of locusts, frogs falling from the sky, Bonnie Rockwaller being nice and working hard…” Despite herself, Kim couldn’t help but laugh, a welcome sight to her friends.

 _Good work_ , Monique mouthed to Ron when she thought Kim wasn’t looking. To Kim herself, Monique said, “Maybe you’re worrying too much about this. So what if your mentor was a janitor? It’s not like it matters all that much.”

“See?” Ron said, “that’s what I said.”

Kim glared at the pair of them. “Ron, you didn’t even _submit_ a mentorship report!”

“Just protecting my mentor’s cover,” Ron shrugged. “We went on an adventure and got the bad guy, so it’s all Chauncey.”

“And you, Monique!” Kim snarled, pointing and accusatory finger at her other best friend, “you had a GWA physical therapist as your mentor. That’s like your dream job!”

Monique was unapologetic. “I got to feel Pain King’s back. His shredded, oiled, muscly back.” She grinned and wriggled her fingers to emphasize that she did in fact spend her mentorship massaging the backs of her favorite professional wrestlers.

“And what did I get? Janitor!” Kim slammed her locker door. “But no more!” She waved a sheet of paper, her application for a second mentorship. “I’m getting a do-over and good career!”

“So, Ms. Possible,” Vice-Principal Barkin rumbled, his deep voice booming from the back of his throat. “You want _another_ mentorship.

Kim sat primly in her chair in the Vice Principal’s office, trying her best to look both respectful of his authority and determined to stand her ground. She knew that she was lucky to catch the man in his office after school, but she refused to be dissuaded from this. A proper mentorship was in her grasp and she wouldn’t let it go. “Yes, Mr. Barkin.” Kim put her application on his desk. “I filled out the paperwork and everything. So if there are any docs or lawyers or senators looking to mentor a student…”

Ignoring her, Barkin pulled out a familiar thick report from his desk. _My old mentorship report._ Despite everything, Kim was nothing if not studious, and she’d made sure that if she _had_ to submit a report on her janitorial mentorship then her report would be the greatest janitorial report in the history of Middleton High. She interviewed dozens of janitors, employed and retired. She read every issue of _Sanitation Weekly_ and _The Municipal Sanitation Journal_. She found the transcripts of every meeting of the Global Janitorial Association in the past fifty years, as well as getting several choice quotes from the Union of Sanitation Workers. Kim’s final report on her week-long mentorship was fifty-three pages long, not counting the ten-page bibliography and twenty-page appendix. Kim’s report got _published_. Maybe Kim when a bit overboard, but she was tired of being accused of being a snob. Unlike someone like Bonnie, Kim was more than able to appreciate the Sanitation workers across the country, nay, the world. And if she didn’t want to become a janitor herself? That was purely a matter of personal preference. No elitist disrespect intended to anyone.

That logic definitely made more sense in her head, but Kim was far too bullheaded to quit when she had an idea in her head, as her eighty-three page report on her nonexistent janitorial mentorship could attest.

Of course, Kim’s lousy luck meant that her meticulous effort backfired when she sent her report to the wrong printer and half her class read her treatise on the glories of Janitorial work. Bonnie read it and made sure to let the world know how eager Kim was to begin her career as a janitor. _No chance Josh Mankey wants to be seen with the only person more pathetic than a teacher’s pet – a **janitor’s** pet._

“This was the finest mentorship report I’ve ever read,” Barkin said with pride, his tone making Kim sit up straighter. _Ha! I knew all that work would pay off!_ “Finally, someone shows our great sanitation workers the respect and appreciation they deserve. Finally, someone shows a passion for and understanding of the dirty jobs that keep our society functioning. I was so proud of you, Kim Possible.”

Kim sat up straighter, preening at the praise. It was about time someone recognized her hard work. _Just goes to show that there’s no problem that hard work and a positive attitude can’t fix!_

“But I guess I was wrong.” _Oh, come on!_ Barkin squinted at her with naked disapproval, his eyes judging her in the way only a former drill sergeant’s could. “Decided you were too good to be a janitor, huh? Figured that Ms. Dainty Little Cheerleader’s hands were too precious to be soiled with the effort to keep our schools free of garbage and filth?”

Fidgeting under his stern disapproval, Kim awkwardly stared at said hands. _They’re not that dainty! And since when is dainty bad for a girl’s hands?_ Truth be told, she couldn’t exactly say _yes_ , _I think I’m too good to be a janitor_ but… _yeah, that’s basically it._ “It’s not that I’m too good for anything. I just want to… uh… experience more things?” _Yeah, that’s it._ “I figured that a second mentorship could help me learn more about other essential careers. Careers with less vacuuming.” Kim mentally patted herself on the back for that save.

Barkin frowned but seemed to accept her explanation, and Kim sighed in relief as he looked over her application.

“Luckily for you, we did have someone interested in mentoring a Middleton High student,” Barkin said, digging through his desk drawers for something. “Only one, but they requested you personally.”

Kim’s heart soared at his words. _I knew it! I knew someone would want to mentor me!_ “Well, you know… I’m a hard worker and maybe they saw me on the news. Who is it? A theoretical physicist? Astronaut? The President?”

“See it for yourself.” Barkin slid over a folder for Kim to read. “If you’re not _satisfied_ with your previous mentorship, maybe you’ll find this one more… _interesting_.” He had a strange smile, as if he knew something that Kim didn’t, and as soon as Kim’s elation had come it was gone.

Kim read over the mentorship profile and frowned. The name, the organization… _this is so not funny!_ “Mr. Barkin, this has to be a joke. Seriously. This is… I mean… There’s no way this is real.”

“Oh, it’s real.”

Kim whipped her head around to see a familiar figure leaning against the doorframe, with a familiar voice, clad in a familiar black and green catsuit, a familiar smirk on her lips as she checked her nails.

“Hey there, Pumpkin,” Shego grinned.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alright, we're getting into it now!
> 
> Next time: Kim begins her new mentorship


End file.
